Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) Shares Sold by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 16.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,736,804 shares of the company’s stock after selling 341,168 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $91,287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,742,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,760,341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168,379 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its holdings in Monster Beverage by 4.7% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 27,142,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,416,048,000 after acquiring an additional 1,229,789 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Monster Beverage by 109.3% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,559,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,176,913,000 after acquiring an additional 11,779,162 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Monster Beverage by 3.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,728,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $817,490,000 after acquiring an additional 473,418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Monster Beverage by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,002,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,371,000 after acquiring an additional 143,871 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MNST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, BNP Paribas dropped their price target on Monster Beverage from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.83.

Monster Beverage Stock Up 1.4 %

MNST opened at $55.09 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.76. The company has a quick ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 3.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Monster Beverage Co. has a 52 week low of $43.32 and a 52 week high of $61.21. The firm has a market cap of $53.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.31, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.02). Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 21.66%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Emelie Tirre sold 91,316 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.38, for a total value of $5,057,080.08. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 76,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,220,011.38. The trade was a 54.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Guy Carling sold 47,000 shares of Monster Beverage stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.02, for a total value of $2,585,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,993 shares in the company, valued at $1,210,054.86. This represents a 68.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 186,316 shares of company stock valued at $10,277,740 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in development, marketing, sale, and distribution of energy drink beverages and concentrates in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Monster Energy Drinks, Strategic Brands, Alcohol Brands, and Other.